Hunted Hunters
by CATFISHXXL
Summary: A Space Pirate and a bounty hunter stand together and face off against the organization that ruined their lives, and as old secrets are revealed, death seems like the easy option. (Remastered!)
1. R- Leaving Home

(Please take notes of some things. Like the chapter titles. Before the actual title is a letter, which corresponds to the narrator. Ridley will be represented with an R. Samus will be represented with an S. Also, be warned, as this story contains several graphic scenes, plenty of swearing, and maybe some feels along the way.)

* * *

 _One day you'll grow up to do great things, and I'll be there with you. Every step of the way._

"Get up!" A voice called. It was Kraid. Kraid and I have plenty of history. I've known him since we were both kidnapped by the pirates. We grew up together, and we were always paired on missions.

Kraid is a large green lizard who can shoot spikes out of his stomach. He was always the brawn of any given situation. He was always so far in the thick of it that escape was always the hardest part.

I am Ridley. I'm not as big (or strong) as Kraid, but I do come up with some pretty good plans if I do say so myself. Kraid and I always a damn good team. I'd cover him with fire shots from the sky and strategize, while he'd be on the ground taking fire and returning it.

I finally opened my eyes and tried to pick myself up. Kraid stood over me, his three glowing red eyes glaring into mine. I was not expecting this, and nearly panicked.

"Oh god, stop with that." I said, trying to sound as sober as possible, but failing miserably.

"Look, you won't wake up when you need to. Did you get any work done? Like, at all? Or were you out being a drunk?"

"I did more than you'd think, our report is right there." I said drunkly, trying to point to a mess on the desk across the room from me. Instead of pointing to it, I ended up rolling out of my sleeping area and slamming my face on the wall before collapsing onto the ground. "See, I found it!"

"You really need to cut this out." Kraid said, picking up the papers and trying to step around my nearly passed out body. "There are three words on our report. There are only three words!" Kraid screeched, grabbing me by my neck and pinning me against the wall. "Stop drinking and finish our damn report!" He dropped me on the ground and left the room.

Everyone considers it an issue that I drink. It just feels right to me, It is the only time I can convince myself that I can survive another day.

I scrambled up and got to work immediately. Sometimes you need to be strangled to realize you did wrong. I got to work for a short while and got enough done to at least qualify as a report. I took in a deep breath. "I hate this place so much." I spread my wings and flew down the hall.

* * *

A short time later I tried to fight another Pirate, but the details are not important.

"We're already in a bad spot, and you go and do this?" Kraid asked. He somehow sounded angry and sad at the same time. It's not really something that can be explained. "You got us in some deep shit this time."

"Sorry." I said sarcastically. I was getting tired of this. "You know they had it co-"

"I don't want to hear it! Do you know what you're doing to us?"

"Well it's not easy to just face the reality that your entire life was a lie! I'm sorry I inconvenienced you with my problems! I have nothing left!"

"Ridley, I know what you're going through. I've been since the beginning."

"I'm weak! I never had a family! These damn pirates stole any life I had!"

" _You've made it this far._ You have that much going for you."

"That means nothing!"

Kraid sat down next to me. He could always tell how stressed out I was. "It's all going to be fine. It's all okay. You made it here, you can make it anywhere."

"I don't want to be alive." I spoke grimly.

"Look, I get it. I really do, but this is the life that was chosen for us."

"Well I can't accept that! I make my own choices!" I stumbled out of the room and flew down the hall. I ended up flying strait into a wall while Kraid followed close behind.

"You okay, man?"

"I'm fine. I don't want to be in this place anymore. It killed us."

"I'm not disagreeing with you."

I looked around for anyone who may have been passing by. "Let's break out." I said quietly.

"What?" Kraid had to force himself to stay quiet.

"I mean it. We have enough information to burn them to the ground."

"No way. I'm not going to do it."

"Then I'll go alone."

"Ridl-"

"No! I'm sick of the Pirates! This is my choice to make. And if you wont come, then I'll go alone."

"They'll notice that you left!"

"I'll be a runaway. This is is my decision, Kraid."

Kraid and I exchanged goodbyes and he watched me as I spread my wings and set out for new grounds. I wasn't sure what to do from there, however. I had just left my only job, my only friend, and the only life I ever knew. I made sure I brought plenty of alcohol with me in a small sack.

I soared through space, looking for anywhere to take refuge and get some rest. I landed on a planet nearby and made myself a small camp.

I turned around to find a stranger in a yellow and orange suit. I didn't think they were friendly at the time. I prepared for a fight, which was the wrong thing to do- they had an arm gun pointed right at my face.

"Don't move." They spoke demandingly.


	2. S- Unlikely Partners

I am Samus Aran. I lost my family at a very young age to the Space Pirates. More specifically, to a massive purple dragon. I was raised by an alien race known as the Chozo. I guess you could call me part Chozo.

They infused me with Chozo DNA and gave me the Power Suit, a suit that protects me from many dangers and supplies me with an arm cannon. I was trained by the Chozo beyond human ability and sent out to do good at the Galactic Federation.

I left the Federation and set out on my own path as a solitary bounty hunter after some misunderstandings with my commander, but enough about me.

* * *

After a while of drifting around space I decided to set up camp on a nearby planet. I landed my ship and stepped out into the cold, unforgiving wild of the new planet.

I heard a commotion in the air. I looked into the night sky and saw a ship belonging to the Space Pirates in orbit of the planet. Someone was leaving it- a dragon. I hid in a nearby bush as to not be noticed. Soon after they landed I carefully approached them. I readied my cannon as they turned to face me.

"Don't move." I said.

"Who are you?" He asked, getting ready to fight.

"Your worst nightmare." I spoke, charging my cannon. "State your name and business."

"I'm not a pirate if that's what you're worried about. I'm a rebel now." I lowered my cannon. "Name's Ridley." He growled.

"What?"

"I want to get those damn pirates out of here. I'm done putting up with them."

"Are you alone?"

"I am for now. They'll probably send search parties after me before long."

"I have a ship. I have weapons, anything we need really. I need a partner to make it happen." I offered.

He thought in silence for a minute. "I'll do it." He announced after a short while.

I started getting back to my ship and turned back to see if Ridley was coming, which he was not. He was staring back to the pirate ship sollemly, it was almost as if he was waiting for something.

"I'm sorry, Kraid." He mumbled. "I'm so sorry."

"You coming?" I asked.

"Yeah." He sighed. "I'm coming." He said quietly. He picked up a small bag.

"Something wrong?" I asked as I approached the massive dragon.

"No, let's just leave." We set out for my ship. When we arrived I questioned him once more.

"Are you sure you want to do this? It won't be easy."

"I'm not backing out. We are going to make this happen."

We boarded the ship and I gave the lumbering dragon a tour. I showed him sleep area and brought him back to the main room.

"So that's it. That's everything you need to see." I said eagerly. "Now, I have to ask you something." He looked around worriedly. "What's your background?"

He explained everything. He explained the pirates, the kidnappings, everything.

"So Kraid refused to come with you?"

"He did. I don't think he understands what they've been doing to us. I feel like I'm the only one who remembers."

"Why didn't you tell him? Didn't he ever get suspicious of what was going on?"

"He would always have to deal with me when I was drunk, so I think he might've caught on to what was really going on, but he was always so scared of the Pirates that he always sided with them. "

I stayed silent for a while. I didn't know what to say to anything he had said. He walked off and went to his bed, I could tell he needed rest after everything that had happened today.

"Ridley?" I eventually called.

"Yeah." He said groggily.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that."

"It's fine, let's just kill them before it gets any worse." He turned back into his room.

 _I won't let you down._ I thought. _I will get you through this._

The next morning when Ridley woke up we took off for the Galactic Federation.

"I'm not on board with this idea." Ridley groaned.

"It's our best shot." I reasoned.

Ridley growled and walked away. "Fine!" He eventually shouted.


	3. S- Federation

We finally arrived and stepped out of the ship to receive multiple cold stares as we entered this new domain. Ridley looked around awkwardly.

"You looking for a way out?" I asked stupidly.

"No. What reason would I have to do that?" He said sarcastically.

"Listen, I know you don't want to be here, but it's our best shot at getting the Pirates killed."

"I don't feel welcome here."

"If feeling welcome is our biggest issue this will go fine. But it won't be. These guys are serious and they have bigger problems than making a Pirate feel welcome in their facility."

"Can't you just get them to help us since you used to work here?"

"It's not as simple as just asking. Although I wish it were, because that would make this conversation much less painful."

We walked into a conference room with someone of fairly high authority.

"Sir, we intend on destroying the organization known as the Space Pirates." I said, attempting to sound professional.

This made the man chuckle a bit. "Don't make me laugh. We've done so many operations trying to get rid of the Pirates that is has become a joke here. All of them have have failed so far, as you should know, Samus."

Ridley shot up, slamming his fist down on the table. "Alright then, _sir_." He said angrily. "What if I told you that I have some people on the inside? That I know all of their top secret operations?"

"You're a Pirate!" The man's voice raised in shock.

" _Was_ a Pirate. I'm a rebel now."

"He's my partner." I stated. The room calmed down after a moment of pure silence.

"What's your name?" The man asked.

"Ridley." He said wearily.

"Well then, Ridley, are you familiar with the ERPD?"

"Yes, sir. Too familiar."

"So you know the stakes?"

"The risk is outweighed by the reward. Those damn Pirates ruined my life."

"Give me a minute." The man stood and walked out of the room, leaving me and the dragon alone.

"What is the ERPD or whatever?" I asked curiously.

"It stands for Every Rogue Pirate Dies. It is a pirate organization to prevent rebels from escaping. I used to run it." He said with a quiver in his voice.

"You used to run it? Look at you, big boss man!" I said eagerly, receiving a glare from Ridley.

"I was one of the highest ranking Pirates of our them all. Mother Brain put me in charge of it because she thought I could be loyal and trustworthy. Now I'm undoubtedly number one on her hit list." We both went silent.

"Has anyone ever escaped? You know, without dying?"

"Only one. His name was Scott." Ridley said, crossing his arms. "Are you proposing that we look for him?"

"Upon other options."

"No way. We don't know where he went. Even if we did, it'd be too dangerous anyway."

"Why?"

"He'd have a score to settle with me." This intrigued me.

"Score?"

"I betrayed him. If he saw me now he would chop off my head and pin it to his wall."

"What did you do?"

"Let's just say someone ordered a hit on him, and I was in charge of running it."

The man from the Federation came back into the room and glanced between us. "Oh, am I interrupting something?" He asked.

"No." Ridley sighed. "You're not interrupting anything." He glanced over at me. "And about those supplies, I don't think we'll be needing them."

* * *

"What the hell were you thinking? You just ruined our only chance for assistance!" I screeched.

"This is our fight, not theirs." Ridley said when I noticed he was sitting in a strange way with his wing spread out covering something.

"Move your wing." I said, with a refusal from Ridley. "Ridley, move your wing." I demanded again with another refusal. I readied my arm cannon. "Move your damn wing!"

He finally moved his wing, revealing a small, brown bottle which fell and rolled across the ground.

"I'm sorry. I can't do this." He mumbled solemnly.

"Why, Ridley? Why are you doing this?" I asked calmly.

"Your Galactic Federation hates us Pirates. I was stressed, so I just did it."

The ship's communication system started making several beeping sounds and a face appeared on the screen in the main room. Ridley and I rushed over to the screen.

The figure was clearly related to Ridley. It had dark blue skin and one sky blue eye. Its other eye was covered by a patch.

"Any escapees of the Space Pirates! As you know, you are being hunted down at this very moment. Come find me. I will be at these coordinates." A set of numbers detailing a point in space appeared on the screen. "If we have any chance of survival, we must join together." The call ended there.

"Clever bastard." Ridley scoffed.

"What? He's just trying to help out." I said, shocked at his comment.

"No he's not. He's trying to pull us in and kill us. Don't you think it's a bit strange that he calls now? Right after I left? He isn't trying to help anyone. He trying to settle his beef with me."

"Wait. Was that-"


	4. R- Scott

I sat there quietly, staring out the window and watching the stars go by. I saw a reflection of myself as we passed a particularly bright star. This was the first time in a while I got to see what I had become.

I saw the face of a mad man. It was almost depressing.

"Hey, Ridley?" Samus called out in a friendly voice. "I know you don't want to go see Scott, but we need all the help we can get. Even from him."

"It will be a trap! He called right after I left! I guarantee that he will try to kill-"

I was cut off by a siren that sounded. "What is that?" I asked.

"Pirates!" She screamed, rushing to a defend her ship. I looked back out of the window I was seated next to. A Space Pirate cargo ship was drifting next to us. I rushed to the exit and slashed any Pirate that got in the way. We eventually stopped the attack and stole some weapons from the vessel.

I saw a ship that I knew had to be Scott's. I actually recognized his ship. It was the one he stole when he left the Pirates.

The Renegade attack craft.

I stepped out of our ship and glanced around for a bit.

It was another ship, similar to the one I used to work on. It was much smaller with some less advanced technology.

I caught a glimpse of Scott running to a control room.

"Hey, wait!" I shouted. The dark blue figure turned around to face me.

"Well, well. Look what the cat dragged in." He growled. A moment of silence followed afterwards ."So after all this time you decide to finally show yourself again. As you can see, I put out a message and it may have summoned some Pirates to my position. Well, I guess it's nice to see some friendly faces around here after all of the recent hostility."

"You two can catch up later. Right now the Pirates are hunting us down and we need your help." Samus said.

"Who are you, young lady?" Scott asked, looking her up and down. He winked at me with his remaining eye.

"It's none of your business who I am!" Samus screeched.

"It is my business, but I already know ho you are. You're Samus Aran. The bounty hunter."

"How did you-"

"There is no time for question. Secrets will reveal themselves when the time is right." He glanced at me again and walked away to the room in a hurry.

"He's always like that. I never understood him." I said. "He's like a crazy person yelling at you. It's best to just smile and nod."

We looked around curiously for a while and without warning I collapsed and fell to the ground.

I felt like my body was on fire. I struggled to not pass out and suddenly everything went black.

* * *

"Get up!"

I opened my eyes to find Kraid standing over me.

"Kraid? What are you doing here?" I asked, confused at the return of my old friend.

"Okay, stay calm. I have come to get you back. You can't leave. You know too much." Kraid said with a creepy tone.

"I can't go back!" I screamed, despite Kraid's orders.

"I said to stay calm. You are lucky they are even letting you back in without punishment."

I could not believe what I was hearing. I gathered the energy to stand up. I started making a mad dash for a nearby window and jumped out. I didn't care what would happen, I couldn't go back to the Pirates. I watch the blood and glass float around me and closed my eyes, hoping for the horror to be over.

Kraid was not so merciless, however.

He gave chase and caught me.

He leaned close into my ear. "You can never escape us, no matter how hard you may try." He began laughing devilishly.

* * *

"Come on, Ridley! Stay with me!" A voice called.

I opened my eyes and they eventually adjusted to the light. I was in what looked like some sort of sick bay. Samus and Scott were standing on either side of me.

"What's going on?" I asked, lifting my head. My wrists, ankles, and waist were bound to a table.

"You collapsed while we were walking, so I ran to get Scott. You've been out for a while." Samus said. "You were having a nightmare?"

"I thought I was back in the Pirates, but that's not important."

"I get it. I totally understand." Samus glanced over to Scott. "Can we get a moment?"

"Of course." Scott left the room, leaving me to speak with my new partner.

"Look, I'm sorry about what happened earlier, I was just so sure I knew the answer. I know you were afraid to see this guy."

"I had to do so much with the Pirates that I had no moral compass. We all get stuck sometimes. I know you don't want to hear this, but we need to move on. We just need to move on so we can kill the Pirates and end this for good."

"I guess you're right." She paused for a moment. "And I get that you were scared of Scott. I'd be freaked out too. I get that you have a complicated history with him. I am actually impressed you behaved as well as you did, given what happened. I got you something." Samus lifted up a small, brown bottle.

"No, I don't want it." I said, turning my head away. "I don't even want to see that anymore."

Samus left the room and Scott came back. He removed the restraints and I explored a bit more. As I walked around, I realized something disturbing.

I wanted to be at the Pirates.


	5. S- Backtracking

After Ridley got better and we all got some rest we decided to go back to the Federation hoping that this time, we would have better luck and Ridley wouldn't screw us over again.

"What happened the first time?" Scott asked.

"Ridley was drinking. He told me about you and then he said we didn't need anything. Now I have a question for you. What happened with Ridley?"

Scott blinked and sat there quietly. After a minuted he took a deep breath. "Ridley and I have quite the history, as I'm sure you've heard. I guided him his whole life in the Pirates. Then, one day, he tried to kill me. He gave me this. " He said, pointing to his patch. "I have no choice but to leave."

"I'm so sorry." I said.

"Don't be. Everything happens for a reason. Nothing is truly random."

"What do you mean?"

"He had to. The Pirates considered me a threat."

"How do you know?"

"I can't say yet."

I was confused by what he had said, but I more important things to worry about.

* * *

We arrived at the Federation soon enough, but something was wrong. It was not as busy as it normally was., and just had a desolate feeling to it. We walked in and sat down with the same employee.

"Sorry about my partner's behavior during the last meeting. He had a bit to drink, but now he has decided to quit." I said. "Oh and this is Scott." I pointed to the behemoth that sat by my side. "He is fine, too. Don't worry about him."

"Well best of luck to you." The man said, smiling at Ridley. "Now let's talk business. If I am correct, you are here for our assistance in eliminating the Pirate threat."

"Yes, that is right."

"What will you need?"

"Troops, weapons, a lot of weapons, actually." Ridley said. "Transports. You know what? Give us everything you have. We can stop this right now."

"I like how you think, but that would not be very wise. Let's discuss what would really be needed for this." The man looked down and started writing on a notepad.

At that moment, there was a series of loud noises outside of the door. We glanced between each other.

"You stay here. I'll go see what that racket is." The man left the room.

"Get out of here, you damn fiends!" Someone screamed. Through the doorway.

Scott stood and glanced out of the door an into the hall. He jerked back quickly as a body shot into the room. "Pirates!" He roared. I readied my cannon and peered out the door.

A massive flame crackled outside of the door, dividing the playing field between us and the Pirates. Marines struggled to stay alive, only to be struck down moments later.

"Come on! We can't stay here!" I ordered. Ridley and Scott followed my command without hesitation.

I heard a scream and glanced over to see an injured Ridley lying on the ground, gripping his leg. I looked up to see who shot him. I saw a giant, three-eyed, lizard-like creature, and then when I saw the look on Ridley's face, I realized who it must have been.


	6. R- Kraid

I felt a blast pierce my leg. I fell to the ground with a screech. I looked up and saw a figure walk through the continuously flames.

Kraid.

"Kraid? What the hell, man?" I cried out.

"So I finally found the drunk that ruined my life. The one who made everything fall apart. The selfish drunk who only cared about letting himself out of the Pirates!" His tone kept rising with every description of me.

I was caught off guard by this. I thought he was my best friend. I offered to help him. We were a team for as long as I could remember. I did not understand how he could have just turned on me like that.

"No! This isn't who you are!" I shouted.

"This is who I am and always will be! You're an idiot for never seeing this! If you were always too drunk to know your own friend, you don't deserve to live! You should be dead right now!"

He started to stomp towards me. Everyone readied their weapons and prepared to fire at him. I stopped them. Something was wrong with this Kraid. This wasn't the Kraid I knew. He picked me up by my neck. "You're a waste. A waste that knows a bit too much." He mumbled in my ear. "Welcome to the real world."

Kraid lifted me up and slammed me down on the ground. Samus took a shot at Kraid, only for him to block it and shoot back.

"You're all fools!" Kraid screamed. I finally got a good looked at his face. His eyes were blood red, and his green skin had a red hue to it. He looked uncontrollably angry, but the more I looked into his eyes, the more I saw the scared kid I grew up with. I knew the Pirates did something to him.

"What happened to you?" I muttered.

"Shut up. It's none of your business. Not anymore. Now, if you don't mind. I must go." He walked away as Samus and Scott picked me up.

There was a flash, and then nothing.


	7. S- Close Call

_The target survived. Find them. Now!_

I woke up with my body slammed against the wall. I slowly stood on shaky legs and looked around. Everything was covered in ash and destroyed. The people that were previously running around were now either blown apart or thrown out of the shattered windows.

The walls had holes and only one light somehow survived, flickering and buzzing, holding onto its last spark until finally dying out pitifully.

"Ridley?" I called out. There was no response. "Scott?"

"Samus? Where are you? I'm stuck!" He cried out. I moved over to the voice and saw the dark blue dragon pinned to the wall under a pile of rubble. We eventually freed him and started on the search for Ridley.

"What happened here?" Scott asked.

"Explosives. A lot of them. I thought you knew everything." I said, turning to him for an explanation.

"You should know I can't tell you my secrets yet. Just wait, and trust me. I promise everything will make sense soon."

"It better." I glanced down at his scars. "What's up with the battle marks?"

"The Pirates..." He paused. "They did stuff to me. Just to make sure I wouldn't leave." He shuddered.

"And yet you're still here." I said sarcastically.

"They tried to break me... I'll rip them all to shreds! I'll murder every last one of them until they've all suffered the way I have!" He screamed. "This is ending the way I want it to end, and if it doesn't..." He turned away and clawed at the wall repeatedly.

"Whoah, whoah! What was that?"

"Samus..." He paused again. "I'm so sorry you had to see that. It was one of the things the Pirates did. They turned me into a monster." The tiniest fragment of a tear began to well up in the corner of his eye. "No physical pain can compare to what has happened to me."

"I'm sorry you had to go through that. Is there anything I an do to help?"

"I'll be fine. Let's just go find Ridley." He started walking and left me behind. I caught up to him and begun the search for our partner.

* * *

"Help! Don't let them take me!" Ridley shouted. "Don't let them take me away!"

We ran as fast as we could to go save him. Kraid and another Pirate were dragging Ridley away to a ship.

"Hey! Stop! Let him go!" Scott shouted, running at them. I activated my cannon and firing at Kraid.

Kraid around and took a shot back at me. The second Pirate beat Scott to the ground. Scott roared and shot up. He grabbed the Pirate and threw him at the wall. Scott shoved his claws into the Pirate's stomach. He pulled his bloody hand out and slit their throat.

Everyone stood there, stunned. We almost forgot that we were fighting. Kraid grabbed Ridley and tried to run away.

"You aren't going anywhere!" Scott screamed. He lunged at Kraid and struck him in his middle eye, making him stumble backwards.

Kraid gained his balance and shot Scott three times. Scott fell to the ground. Kraid stomped away, dragging Ridley behind him. He stepped on the ship and got away.

"No, no, no! Damn! We lost him!" I shouted, peering out of the window.

"Look, we have a ship. We'll chase them. It'll be fine." Scott said in a comforting tone.

"We don't know where they are!"

"I saw which way they went, and if they were here, the rest won't be too far away."

Without saying anything else, Scott and I ran to my ship. The blast had a major effect on the ship, rendering it almost unusable.

"What do we do now?" Scott asked.

"Come with me." I said, trying to sound calm. "They always have something in the hangar."

After carefully avoiding several gaps and more fire we reached the hangar, only to find that the explosion was aimed there. All of the ships, once shiny and soaring through space, were now wrecked.

"We're stuck!" I screeched.

"No, not stuck." Scott said with a smile, spreading his powerful wings.

"You can't be serious."

"Oh, I am. Hop on."

After hesitating for a bit, I climbed onto his back and held on for dear life.

Scott jumped out of a broken window and started flapping his wings.

"You know, I always wanted to ride a dragon!" I said excitedly.

"Well, enjoy it while it lasts. We are almost there." He said, pointing to a massive ship that guards on the deck. It was named Nemesis. "This is it. Time to get Ridley back. Time to end this. Get ready. We might be taking fire."

"Okay. Wait, what?" Before I could react Scott spun around to avoid some gunshots. I readied my cannon and began blindly firing at everything.

"Ready to go in?" Scott asked. "We only have one chance. Once we go in, there will be no coming back out."

"I'm ready." I said. "Let's do this!"

Scott flew into a door and dropped me down. He flew back up and launched some balls of fire at some approaching Pirates.

"That would've come in handy earlier!" I shouted at him.

"I was saving them until we really needed them."

I sighed and started moving forward. More Pirates came out to attack us. We gunned them down and kept moving on. Waves upon waves kept storming out onto the deck with us.

Eventually Ridley came twirling out onto our battlefield. Shattered glass fell all around him.

He looked different than before. He had blood red eyes and some injuries around his body he didn't have before. Additionally, his body had some sort of subtle red glow around it. The Pirates seemed to be scared of him. He glared into my eyes and began to charge at us.


	8. S- Reclamation

"Ridley! It's me! Samus! There's Scott! It's the whole crew!"

Ridley said nothing and continued to run at us. Scott launched a fireball to slow him, but to no success.

Ridley tackled me to the ground and started clawing at me. Scott ripped him off and knocked him down. I tried to activate my cannon to fire at the others, but Ridley struck something and it would not work.

"Scott! Take out the other Pirates!" I ordered. Scott took to the sky and launched a few fireballs and they all fell with ease.

Ridley jumped up to follow Scott and took him down. They both slammed to the ground with a thud. Ridley turned around and glared at me.

"Ridley, don't kill us! I know you're in there! I know a good being is in there! I know what you're capable of!"

"Look, Ridley, I'll break it down for you." Scott spoke in a soft voice. "A wise man once told me that you have to break the barriers of what people tell you." He paused and glanced over to me. "I went through the same issue as you and I have my bad moments, but I know you can do the same. Break the barriers."

"I am a Pirate. My job is to kill and die." Ridley finally growled coldly, his biting words breaking my heart. I couldn't kill my partner. He was not a cold blooded killer.

If only I could convince _him_ of it.

Ridley kept flying around the arena, launching balls of fire at Me and Scott periodically. I refused to shoot him, much to Scott's displeasure. Scott flew up in the air for some hand-to-hand strikes. Every single time he was outdone, and got thrown out of the air several times. All hope was starting to vanish until Ridley spoke once more.

"You have no chance, yet you still fight. You would make fine Pirates." Ridley showed no signs of returning to how we knew him.

However, Scott seemed to have an idea. "Ridley, this isn't you! You are being controlled! You are just a pawn of their will!"

"I am controlled by no one!"

"The Pirates are using you! You are no one but part of their army!" Scott continued to taunt Ridley until Ridley slowly drifter to the ground.

We all glanced between each other for a moment. Ridley's previously blood red eyes completely changed to their normal orange color. He blinked at us.

"What happened?" He asked. "Where are we?"


	9. R- Corruption

"Why are you just staring at me?" I asked. "And where are we?" The others continued to stare with their same shocked expressions. Silence filled the air.

"You tried to kill us." Samus mumbled.

"No, that can't be right. The last thing I remember. was.." I paused and thought for a moment. "I remember the explosion. I was being dragged."

"The Pirates took you away, so we came to save you." Scott said. "Then you attacked us." I looked around for a bit. It was a Pirate ship. The one were I used to work.

Home.

"Wait, where is Kraid?" I asked the others, who just shrugged. I looked at a hole in the wall that led to the interior of the ship. "Should we go in?" The others nodded and we all walked inside.

There was a sharp pain in my head and I fell to the ground.

* * *

I came to my senses and was lying on the ground surrounded by shards of glass. I sat up and crawled over to the closest wall and inspected my leg. It felt fine, but I knew I shouldn't put too much stress on it. I looked up and saw a few undamaged screens, which had several Pirate reports on them.

One of them caught my eye. It stated that ever since the Pirates brought us in, Kraid and I shared some sort of connection. What happens to one affects the other, but to a lesser degree. That was the moment I realised what they did. They tampered with Kraid and played with his mind just to lure me back. I felt sick.

I now had yet another reason to fight, but first I needed to find the team. I gripped my leg and limped out of the small room into a narrow hallway. I heard a cry that sounded like Kraid's. I hurried to the calls, making sure I didn't injure myself more in the process. I peered through a tiny window to see Kraid strapped to a table with several Pirates standing around him. They were hooking him up to a machine and holding tools. It was horrifying.

"Hey!" I screamed. The Pirates turned towards me and their eyes widened. "Don't hurt him! Look, if you want me, then come get me!" I saw a few of them hold up their guns. "Come get me you bastards!" There was a pain in my head and I lost control of myself again.

* * *

It wasn't unlike anything I had seen before, given my previous line of work, but this time it was different. When I was at the Pirates I paid no attention to the aftermath, but this time I couldn't. This time I had to face the corpses and blood splatters knowing the it was my fault. The painted walls screamed at me, and I heard voices in my head like the lost souls were trying to speak to me. I couldn't tune it out anymore. I became a monster.

I became a Pirate.

I looked in the window where I saw Kraid. He was still there, staring at me in horror. Samus and Scott were also there, just staring. I limped over to the nearby door.

"Damn, they got to you." Kraid wheezed. "Understand that I never wanted to hurt you. I tried my best to resist their brainwashing."

"It'll be fine. We'll take out Mother Brain and end this, right?" I asked hopefully.

"No. I won't make it out of here." Kraid coughed and looked me in the eye. "I want you to do one thing for me. Kill Mother Brain and destroy the Pirates. They must suffer for what they did to us. Do you understand?"

"I'll do it."

"Good." Kraid closed his eyes and his head fell to the side. I suddenly felt weak and collapsed to the ground. I heard the soft cry of Samus behind me. They gently propped me up against the wall.

"I can't do this." I whimpered. "I just made a promise I can't keep. How can I go on?"

"Ridley, you're the strongest person I've ever met. I know you get though this. You've made it this far." Samus said. I glanced up at my companions.

"If anyone can do this, it's you, Ridley." Scott said, reaching out his hand. I took it and stood up.

"Let's go kill this bitch!" I called.


	10. S- Rising Up

Ridley walked down the hall with his arms folded across his chest and his head down. Scott stood beside him with a SAS expression on his face. I glanced over at the lizard one last time and left the room. I did not know him personally, but I knew what Ridley was going through. We all stayed silent, with only our footsteps echoing through the corridors.

We continued walking for several minutes until Ridley fell to the ground with no warning. He struggled to maintain control of his body. I stood there, not knowing what to do and finally approached him slowly.

"Stop." Scott demanded. "There's nothing you can do. He has to fight this on his own." At that moment, Pirates stormed into the room.

"Not this time." Ridley said, standing up. He turned to the Pirates, who pointed their weapons at the dragon with no trace of fear. He slowly approached them, lifting his hands above his head.

"What are you doing?" I muttered. "Get back here." Scott gave me a serious look and shook his head.

Ridley stood there, towering over the zebesian soldiers. "Something you want?" He asked in a calm, quiet tone. One of the soldiers walked toward him confidently.

"We are supposed to bring you back." The Pirate looked at me and Scott. "No matter what."

Suddenly, Ridley trapped the Pirate by his neck and threw him against the wall, killing him instantly. I activated my cannon and began firing at the rest of them. Scott lunged at one of them and slit their throat.

Breathing heavily, Scott looked over the corpses. "I'm too old for this."

I paced around the room for a moment. "So what happens now?"

"We keep going on. We will end this once and for all." Ridley said with a hint of pain in his voice.

"You okay?"

"I'll be fine, don't worry about me." He fell to the floor again, shaking violently. After a minute, the shaking ceased, and Ridley went limp.

Scott grabbed Ridley by his shoulders and leaned him up against the wall.

"Well, we can't go anywhere with him unconscious." He said, shaking his head and sitting next to Ridley.

"We could just carry him." I suggested.

"I have my issue. What happens if you lose me too?" I stayed silent. He had a point. I'd have no chance if I lost both of my partners.

"Well how long will it be?" I finally asked.

"No idea. Could be hours. Could be days."

"Days? We don't have that much time! We have to do this now!" I stepped over to Ridley and looked at his leg. It was mostly healed and didn't seem to bother him anywhere. "How'd this happen?" I asked pointing to his leg.

"It's a side effect of the Pirate's work." Scott replied. "Project Berserk. They tried to create a weapon." He looked over to Ridley. "I used to work on it. It makes you lose control of your own mind and attack everything in sight. You ignore any pain and heal at an accelerated rate. They tried to create the living equivalent of a tank. It can take anything you have and throw it right back at you. They just didn't account for the danger that it would attack them too. So it backfired like nearly everything they do."

"So that's what happened at the Federation?" I asked curiously.

"Yes, but the effect wears off over the years. That was why I could stop it. Wait." Scott said quickly. He looked down the hall. "You hear that?"

"No."

I readied my cannon anyway in case an onslaught was coming. A massive red monster with eight white eyes and no pupils appeared. It stayed low to the ground and crawled around us. It had four legs and two thin, bony arms.

"So it is true." It spoke in a deep, dark voice. "Our Savior has returned." It crawled up to Scott and looked him right in the eye. "What the hell did you come back for?" It growled.

"Who is this guy?" I asked.

"Crocomire." Scott replied angrily. "My partner. Until he stabbed me in the back."

"You tried to bring us down."

"You tried to have me killed! What do you want?"

"You find a way out, and I can help you with the boss, but that's it. After this is said and done we go our separate ways."

Scott glanced at me questioningly.

"Let's do it." A voice said. I turned around to see Ridley standing against the wall and looking between all of us. "What are we waiting for?"

"I didn't realise you were awake." I said. "How long were you there?"

"A little bit, but I think we should do it. Like you said, we need all of the help we can get. Even from him."

"Alright, but after this we never hear from you again." He shot Crocomire a glare and started walking down the hall.

We fought through waves of Pirates, including some Berserkers. I learned some more about out new companion, like that he was one of the original Pirates, and knew both Ridley and Scott very closely.

Our adventure continued for a short while, and we came to a door. Ridley looked down at his right hand, which was twitching spastically.

"Oh no." Scott mumbled solemnly. "We are so close to Mother Brain that her control can't even be stopped."

"What does that mean for us?" I questioned.

"Two things. Ridley only has one hand he can use, and she is right through this door."


	11. R- Mother

We all stood there, thinking of the possibilities for the looming battle ahead of us.

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be." I said, glancing to Scott.

"If we wait any longer, shell get stronger." Crocomire said, with Samus nodding in agreement.

"Are you sure you're ready?" Scott asked, looking me in the eye. I noticed a fear in everyone's eyes that appeared now, next to our ultimate destination since I broke away. It was surreal in a way. Part of me thought I'd never get this far. Then I remembered the words Kraid said to me at the start.

You made it this far.

Even though the situation was completely different the words still had a special meaning to me. I felt my eyes water a bit. I wiped it away and looked at Scott.

"I'm ready."

* * *

 **FINAL BATTLE**

So there I stood, my right hand twitching behind me, looking onward to the beast that stood before me. Every single thing I did came down to this moment. Every step I took, every breath I drew. Every single late face burned into the back of my mind.

It stood at the opposite end of the arena on top of the ship with its back to us. "Well, you're here." It growled. "What do you fight for?" It turned around and glared at our group with its single eye. It pointed to a pile of bloody corpses from both the Space Pirates and the Galactic Federation. Situated at the top was a dead lizard. Kraid.

At that moment I felt I had nothing to lose and charged forward to strike Mother Brain. It knocked me down to the ground with a single swipe. I looked up at my former boss.

It had large metal arms and legs, and had metal spikes coming out of its head. It drooled almost uncontrollably and it's soul piercing gaze was just something else.

"Look at the carnage you caused. All of these lives wasted pointlessly. This could have been avoided if you just died when you supposed to!" Mother Brain shouted at our group.

"As if you had a shred of humanity in you! You talk about wasting life, what are you doing daily?" Samus cried out.

Mother Brain turned to Samus and responded with only with four words. "Giving criminals a path." it noticed Crocomire cowering in fear behind Samus. "I see you've turned against me now. What do you hope to get out of this?"

He came out of hiding and stood proudly. "A way out. I know what you did to the others." Crocomire looked down for a moment. "I know about the Berserkers, and the ERPD."

We all stood silently for a moment. I scrambled up to rejoin my team. Without warning, there was an explosion from the door we entered.

Zebesians started flooding into the arena, firing at us. We quickly killed all of them and everyone but Scott picked up their weapons.

This is it. I thought. This is the day.

We began firing at Mother Brain. It lunged forward and took a swing at us. "This is all you've got? This'll be easy." It snickered.

I shot it right in the eye, causing it to stagger backwards. Scott winced at the sight.

"Go for the eye!" Samus ordered.

Scott leapt into the air and flew circles around Mother Brain to distract it. When it finally got a good look at him he opened his mouth and unleashed a column of fire.

He landed next to Samus and leaned into her ear. "I was saving that for a while." He said with a smile. We all continued firing at Mother Brain.

"Enough of this!" It screeched. It's eye turned blood red and I felt a pain in my head. I fell down with a thud and began shaking violently. Images of everyone I knew dead kept flashing in my head.

 _I can beat this. I have to._

At that moment Scott shot up, shouting profanities at Mother Brain. He latched to its eye a proceeded to tear it to shreds. Mother Brain desperately tried to claw him off as it screamed in agony.

Scott jumped back down and began screaming incomprehensible gibberish. He did make sure to say one thing very clearly. "If you wanted me dead so bad, you should have fucking killed me yourself!"

The pain stopped and I could finally stand again. I took a look around and saw the horrifying aftermath. Mother Brain stood there, blindly thrashing around until she fell down. Scott stood over it and threw a fireball into its eye one last time.

Samus was cowering in the corner, crying. "Stay away! I just want to close my eyes and go back home!" Scott attempted to walk over and comfort her. "I said stay away, you monster!"

I could see why she was so afraid of him. His entire front side was stained with blood, and he just relentlessly attacked a massive, one-eyed beast.

Mother Brain took one last breath and stood up. I shot it one last time in the eye and it fell down again, dying this time.

It was finally over.


	12. S- Paths

"I can't believe we just did that." Crocomire said, breathing heavily. "What happens now?"

Scott glanced around the room, almost like he was solving a puzzle.

"You okay?" I asked, still making sure to keep my distance.

"I'm fine." He said under his breath, not even turning to face me. "Ridley, come with me."

Ridley reluctantly followed Scott to the opposite end of the arena. They spoke for a moment until Ridley became aggressive. He shoved Scott to the ground and began strangling him. "You did this to me! I'll kill you!" He roared.

"I raced over to help Scott, but before I could he threw Ridley off of him. He grabbed rid!ey and pinned him against the wall. "You did this to yourself! Now you're going to do this, or I'm going to make you."

"Stop!" I shouted. "Don't turn on each other!"

Scott slammed Ridley on the ground and put one foot on his chest. "Now you need to go in there, and suck it up one more time."

I pulled Scott off of Ridley and helped him up. "What the hell is wrong with you two?" Both of them stayed silent and looked down. I looked over to Crocomire, who was just standing there, chuckling. "What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing. They just bicker like an old married couple." He said, receiving growls from both of the dragons.

After making sure no fights broke out, I walked over to a machine previously hidden behind the pile of bodies. "What is this thing?" I asked.

"Hell." Ridley replied solemnly. He slowly walked over and began pressing some buttons on the panel. There was a bright flash and after my eyes adjusted to the light I saw a light blue portal appear next to the machine.

"This is what I have to do. I guess this is goodbye for now." Ridley said quickly. He walked through the portal without making eye contact with anyone.

"Does it make sense yet?" Scott asked.

"And you still got the bad ending." Crocomire said grimly. He steadied his weapon and fired a series of rounds at the machine, causing it to explode next to us.

"What was that for?" I screeched.

"I have been a slave for so long, now I can rule over the kingdom I forged!" Crocomire began firing shots directly at us and an alarm sounded. Zebesian soldiers poured into the arena, aiming their weapons at Crocomire. He stopped firing, but was still aiming his weapon at us. "Pirates! Mother Brain is dead! These traitors killed them! Now shoot them or die!"

The Pirates glanced between each other for a moment. "Fire!" Crocomire shouted. All of the Pirates began shooting at me and Scott.

A hatch opened in the wall and a series of Metroids began to fill the sky.

"Cover me!" Scott shouted as he leapt into the air and unleashed another column of fire. Several Pirates fell, but more just kept coming. "There's too many! We have to get out of here!" The Pirates shot him down. He rose up and started looking around. "Come on!" He shouted to me.

I started running after him, trying and failing to avoid the flurry of gunfire. I finally caught up to him and we ran into an exit of the arena. I blasted the lock to the door and continued running. Scott looked back to the door and the ship warned us to leave within five minutes.

"There's a hangar down the hall! Go now, before you're blown away!"

"I can't leave you behind!"

"Why? They don't want you, just me!"

"I promised myself to stick with you until the end!"

"We killed their leader! It's over! It's my turn to die, not yours! Now go!"

I hesitated a bit, and finally ran down the corridor to the hangar. I arrived and stepped inside one of the ships, named the survivor. I started it up and flew away as fast as I could. I looked out of a window in the back and watched the explosion.


	13. R- Destiny

I crossed over to the other side of the portal and looked back. It rapidly closed behind me, leaving me just floating in space. I looked around and noticed my old ship, the Nemesis. It was heading to a world I had never seen before.

I flew over and landed on the planet and glanced around. I quickly realized what I was tasked to do. I ran forward until I came to a small village.

A village of my people.

I stepped into the village and crawled over to one of the smal huts without being spotted.

"They've found us again. We need to evacuate." Someone inside said.

"We have no time. We have to make a stand." Another one spoke.

"What about the kid?"

"They'll be safe in here. Come on." The dragons exited the hut and looked up to the approaching Space Pirates. I snuck inside and peered through the window. Crocomire and several others dropped down from the ship.

While they began firing at each other, I turned to a small, red dragon child sitting in the corner. "Mommy and daddy are very worried." It mumbled. "Is it my fault?"

" Shh. No, no it isn't." I whispered calmly. "What's your name?"

"Rinley." He said, questioning if he got it right.

"I think it's supposed to be Ridley."

The Pirates barged into the room and pointed their weapons at us. "Don't let the bad people hurt me!" Ridley whined.

"Alright, we don't need any trouble, were unarmed." I said, putting my hands up.

Crocomire scoffed and walked away. "kill them."

One of the soldiers hesitated and faced Crocomire. "Even the kid?" They questioned.

"Kill them both. So yeah, kill the kid." He said sarcastically, glaring at the Pirate.

"Stop!" I shouted. Crocomire crawled up to my face.

"What the hell do you want?"

"Spare us and we'll join you."

Crocomire stayed silent and though for a moment. "Get them on the ship." Two Pirates stepped forward and escorted me and Ridley to the Nemesis. "What's your name anyway?"

"Scott. The name is Scott. The child is Ridley." I stepped on the ship and was guided to a cell with Ridley. I began to tear up slightly.

"What's wrong?" Ridley asked. "Was the fat man mean to you?"

I wiped my face. "No. They took away everything and I had no say in it. I see myself in you. You're so young, so innocent."

"What's that?"

"Innocence is something they stole from me, and I'm never getting it back." I paused for a moment. "Listen up, this is important. One day you'll grow up to do great things, and I'll be there with you. Every step of the way."


	14. Credits

Thank you so much for reading this! This is my personal favorite story that I wrote, and I thought It'd be fun to give it a remaster.  
(Remastered on 8-4-16)

* * *

Special thanks to:

Rachel Bailey

Megan Davenport

Breanna Sullivan

Emily M.

John Thorne

Ernesto Armondo Ramos

Heather Lawson

Sam "Sampson" Foerster

Chance Nicholas

Caden Johnson

* * *

Fun facts/ Behind the scenes

-A similar story called Change of Heart inspired me to make this, and served as the foundation for it.

-I originally intended for this to be a web series by the same name.

-Kraid wasn't supposed to die in the original story.

-Ridley's report at the beginning was actually on Project Berserk.

-The ships are named after what happens on them.

-Crocomire is in here for two reasons. First, I thought it would be interesting to see him as the true villain. Second, he was the only Pirate I could remember with arms and legs.

-Dragons turn blue as they age. That is the excuse I am using for the change in skin color from Ridley to Scott.

-Ridley and Crocomire make two Undertale references in this story. See if you can find them.

* * *

Scott facts

-Scott was never actually supposed to be in the story. There was originally a scene where Samus and Ridley were enslaved, and Ridley finds love. This was replaced with the Renegade and Scott respectively.

-Scott's name is a reference to Ridley Scott, director of Alien, and loyal fans know that the Metroid universe was based on the movie.

-Scott's appearance is based on Ridley-X with the dark blue skin, and his eyes are blue because he used the portal at the end.

-The last thing Scott says to Samus is 'It's my turn to die, not yours!' This is a reference to the DAGames song Summon the Wave. One of the lines is 'I hope it's not my turn to die.'

* * *

Links

Change of Heart- s/4660052/1/Change-of-Heart

DAGames- user/DiamondArmadaOnline

Summon the Wave- watch?v=qgBFH60t4xY

Metroid © Nintendo

Scott belongs to me.


End file.
